This invention relates to an impact-resistant energy absorbing container for transporting a load, particularly a load of hazardous materials.
The storage and transportation of hazardous materials presents a number of unique challenges. Some of the prior art reflects solutions to the problem of shielding nearby objects from the effects of explosion of the hazardous material by designs that damp the shock waves and confine the debris produced by the explosion. Other references show construction details of various containers that shield a load from impacts, fire, puncture, immersion, and the rest of the variety of adverse conditions that can adversely affect the load during storage and transportation. The need for a container that can withstand all of the more normal types of impacts contemplated by the prior art structures as well as those contemplated by new government regulations covering the air transportation of nuclear materials has now created a requirement for a container with capabilities to withstand very high speed impacts with subsequent fires and immersion without the escape of the material within the load into the environment. The present invention is the only container design known that is capable of meeting this increased level of protection.